


steady on two feet

by kiyala



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Dates, Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 06:29:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1541018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Combeferre and Courfeyrac go to an ice skating rink for their first date. Except it turns out Courfeyrac doesn't know how to skate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	steady on two feet

It's been an entire week since Courfeyrac asked Combeferre out a date. A week, and neither of them can decide on where to go for their first date. An entire week of feeling weird about physical contact when it used to feel so natural to them, a week of agonising over where to go, what to do.

Combeferre is not an indecisive person by nature. This is completely out of the ordinary for him, but he wants this date to be nothing less than perfect. After years and years of pining for Courfeyrac, he's damned if he's going to let this opportunity pass him by without making the most of it. 

He's getting impatient, though, and he has a feeling that getting this date over and done with will make them figure out where they stand with each other so they can more or less return to normal. Or whatever the new normal will be between them. Combeferre is a little eager to find that out, too.

He doesn't even know which of their fiends suggests ice skating, just that it's yelled out among other suggestions when their friends are teasing them for their indecisiveness at the Musain one afternoon. Ice skating sticks and he turns to Courfeyrac, raising an eyebrow.

"How about it? Ice skating?"

Courfeyrac smiles the same nervous smile he's been giving Combeferre for a week and nods. 

Ice skating it is. 

:·:

They get to the rink and pay for the skate hire and are sitting down to put their skates on when Courfeyrac clears his throat.

"So. I don't actually know how to skate."

"You don't?" Combeferre asks. "But—you agreed to this date—"

"We weren't coming up with anything else," Courfeyrac says desperately. "We needed _something_."

"You should have said something," Combeferre mutters, all hopes for a perfect date vanishing. "You had all this time and you said absolutely nothing? We could have made alternate plans, Courfeyrac. I'm sure we would have thought of something better than this."

Courfeyrac's shoulders slump. Combeferre sighs, immediately feeling guilty for being too harsh.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs. "It's just…"

"I know how you are when things don't go according to plan," Courfeyrac tells him with a smile, bumping their shoulders together. "Look, it's fine. You can teach me how to skate. It'll be fun."

Combeferre raises an eyebrow. "I'm not quite sure _fun_ is the word I would use. I don't think I'm a very good teacher."

"Well, you can get some practice, then." Courfeyrac smiles at him. "I'd like you to teach me."

"Okay," Combeferre says uncertainly. "I'll do my best."

They put their skates on and Courfeyrac wobbles his way over to the rink, Combeferre ready to catch him if he topples over.

"You get on the ice first," Courfeyrac suggests once they get to the gate. "I'll follow your lead."

Combeferre nods, stepping onto the ice. He's been ice skating since he was young and feels almost as comfortable on the ice as he does on the ground. He turns to Courfeyrac with a smile, reaching his hand out.

Courfeyrac reaches out too, grasping Combeferre's hand tightly as he steps onto the ice. He wobbles, his grip on Combeferre tightening to the point that it's crushing.

"Okay, okay, you need to calm down," Combeferre tells him, moving closer and reaching for the railing with his free hand, guiding Courfeyrac over to lean against it. "You're alright. Nothing's going to happen to you. The worst is that you'll fall and if you do, that's perfectly fine. You just pick yourself up and keep going."

Courfeyrac relinquishes his grip on Combeferre's hand to cling to the railing instead. "I'm calm. I'm fine. I'm—crap, I'm falling over!"

"No, you're not. I've got you." Combeferre places a hand on Courfeyrac's hip to steady him. "I'm not going to let you fall."

"Unless I fall so hard that I bring you down with me as well."

Combeferre laughs softly. "Yes. If you fall, I'll fall with you. I'm pretty sure you'd find a way to make it look like you meant to fall down, anyway."

Courfeyrac grins. "You severely overestimate how smooth I can be. One time, I ended up on a date with the guy of my dreams and I was planning on impressing him as much as I could, except then I ended up clinging to the railing of a skating rink for dear life."

It takes a moment for that to sink in and when it does, Combeferre can feel a huge grin spreading across his face. He doesn't even try and hide it. "Oh, you are _terrible_."

"I think you mean amazing." Courfeyrac winks. "You know, embarrassing myself is kind of worth it for the fact that we're finally okay with touching each other again."

Looking down at the way his hand is casually resting on Courfeyrac's hip, Combeferre nods. "You're right. I was hoping that would go away soon. It was—weird to feel weird about physical contact. Does that even make sense?"

"Somehow, yes." Courfeyrac carefully takes one hand off the railing to hold Combeferre's hand instead. "I'm really glad that it's stopped feeling weird too."

"Are you ready to start skating?" Combeferre asks. "You can keep one hand on the railing and I'll hold the other. We'll go around the rink, as slow as you want."

"Yeah," Courfeyrac nods. "I'm game. How do I move and not fall over?"

"Just put one foot in front of the other. You push off from your back foot and glide forward on your front foot." Combeferre squeezes Courfeyrac's hand. "If you're okay with me letting go of your hand for a second, I'll show you what I mean."

Courfeyrac nods and Combeferre is pleased to note that he doesn't go back to clinging to the railing with both hands. Combeferre skates forward a few steps and then back again.

"You make that look so easy. I'm jealous." Courfeyrac reaches for Combeferre's hand, linking their fingers together. "Promise you won't laugh at me?"

"I promise."

They start skating and Combeferre thinks that he's prepared for how slow Courfeyrac needs to go, but he really isn't. It barely even feels like they're getting anywhere at first, because Courfeyrac isn't skating so much as he is shuffling forward, using the hand on the railing to pull himself along.

"Okay, stop," Combeferre finally says. "This isn't helping you at all. Let go of the railing."

"What? No." If anything, Courfeyrac clings to it even tighter.

"I'm not going to let go of your hand, Courfeyrac. Just hold onto my hand, you don't need the railing. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," Courfeyrac replies immediately.

"I won't let go and I won't let you fall," Combeferre promises. "You can do this."

"Okay," Courfeyrac says, taking a deep breath and letting go of the railing. 

Combeferre skates forward slightly, pulling Courfeyrac along with him.

"Fuck, no, what are you—!" Courfeyrac exclaims, but his feet move forward, keeping him upright. "Oh, wow. So that's how you do it. Okay, that makes sense."

"Now you try," Combeferre says, grinning.

Combeferre may not be a particularly good teacher, but Courfeyrac is a very quick student. He starts getting the hang of it and even if they're still moving slowly, at least it begins to feel like they're actually going somewhere. It takes them a while to do a full circuit but when Courfeyrac realises that they have, he turns to Combeferre with a triumphant grin.

"Very good," Combeferre tells him, loosening his grip on Courfeyrac's hand. "If you do another full lap, except faster, I'll kiss you."

"Ooh, you're on," Courfeyrac grins. "You're still holding my hand though, right?"

"Of course."

Courfeyrac's grin grows wider. "Come on then."

He is faster this time and doesn't comment when Combeferre loosens his grip even more. Not that this really comes as a surprise, when Combeferre knows just how focused Courfeyrac can be when he has a clear goal in mind. It's one of the reasons Combeferre likes him as much as he does.

"There we go!" Courfeyrac exclaims as they finish their second lap. He turns his full body towards Combeferre and wobbles, his eyes going wide.

Combeferre moves forward before Courfeyrac can fall, steadying him against the railing. Courfeyrac holds onto the material of Combeferre's jacket, his grip so tight that his knuckles turn white.

"My hero," Courfeyrac murmurs fondly.

"Told you I wouldn't let you fall," Combeferre replies, brushing Courfeyrac's hair back, out of his face. "Congratulations on your second lap."

"Do I get a kiss?"

Combeferre smiles, leaning in to touch their lips together briefly. It's simple, understated, and Courfeyrac is beaming as they pull apart.

"What do I get if I do a whole lap without you holding my hand?"

Combeferre hums in thought. "You decide."

"I get to kiss you again." Courfeyrac doesn't even have to stop and think about it. "The kind of kiss you wouldn't give me in the middle of an ice skating rink. You can kiss me later. I'm going to need coffee to warm up after this anyway. We can go back to my place."

"That sounds good," Combeferre replies. "Deal."

Courfeyrac lets go of Combeferre's hand and his first few steps are uncertain but then he grows more confident as he keeps going. Combeferre follows behind him, watching with a small smile. Courfeyrac still wobbles every now and then, but he doesn't let that stop him. Combeferre didn't actually think it was possible for him to feel even fonder for Courfeyrac than he already does, but here he is, happily being proven wrong.

"Combeferre!" Courfeyrac calls out once he's finished his lap. "Combeferre, did you see that?"

"I did." Combeferre smiles proudly, skating over to Courfeyrac and giving him another quick kiss. "You did great. Do you want to keep going, or do you want to get that coffee now?"

Courfeyrac beams. "By coffee, you mean…"

"I mean that I really want to kiss you, and I'd rather not do that in public."

"You just kissed me in public twice," Courfeyrac points out.

"Not the way I really want to," Combeferre replies, and that's enough to get Courfeyrac moving.

"You're sure you want to leave already, though?" Courfeyrac asks as they step out of the rink. "I mean, you clearly enjoy skating and I've been holding you back the entire time that we were here, which isn't even that long. We only went around the rink three times."

"It's fine," Combeferre assures him. "I definitely don't mind and it might have only been three laps, but look at how much you've improved. That in itself is enough for me. We can always come back later."

"Yeah." Courfeyrac smiles. "True. Let's do that."

"You want to?" Combeferre asks with surprise as they put their shoes back on.

"Of course I do," Courfeyrac replies, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Combeferre, that rink is where you kissed me for the first time. Do you have any idea how long I've wanted you to kiss me for? This rink has automatically become one of my favourite places ever."

Combeferre ducks his head with a smile. "Yeah, okay. Mine too."

"Come on," Courfeyrac says, taking Combeferre's hand as they return their skates and leave the centre. "Back to my place. For kisses and coffee and more kisses."

" _Lots_ of kisses," Combeferre agrees. "I want to kiss you until our lips are bruised."

"Oh," Courfeyrac breathes, his eyes going wide. "This is the best first date _ever_."

Combeferre hums in agreement, wrapping an arm around Courfeyrac's shoulders and pressing another quick kiss to his lips. Courfeyrac laughs softly, kissing him right back. They're both smiling as they pull apart, and Courfeyrac leans into his side. Combeferre is pretty sure that he's the luckiest guy in the whole world.


End file.
